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The hidden cost of Putin’s war: A more dependent Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has increasingly characterized his all-out war against Ukraine as a struggle for "sovereignty," yet what limited territorial gains Russia has achieved since 2022 pale in significance to the staggering dependence on China that has emerged. While the Kremlin had already been pursuing a "pivot to the East" for some time, this was never presented as the rapid wholesale embrace of Beijing necessitated by the protracted conflict. In fact, Western sanctions have left M

Ukraine's ballooning debt, explained

Ukraine's debt is ballooning. By the end of last year, the country owed over $213 billion to creditors — a hair's breadth away from the size of the country's entire economy. That doesn't include a new 90-billion-euro loan to Kyiv agreed by European leaders at a summit on Dec. 19, of which a sizable chunk will add to Ukraine's debt pile. As Russia's full-scale invasion approaches its fifth year and progress towards a peace deal remains uncertain, the anticipated postwar reconstruction boom is o

A Ukrainian flag flies above the headquarters of the Ukrainian Finance Ministry in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 8, 2017.
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